Sports Commentary by Matt Chaprales

My Story

What’s good reader? I’m Ballgame and this is my site, also known as my “points”. Basically this is a venue for me to make my loud (and Boston-slanted) voice heard. Yes, Boston is in my blood and the Red Sox and Patriots are no doubt the heart that gives life to my sportswriting. But there’s a catch. I’m also a New Yorkaaaaaaaaah. (Although I only drop my “R’s” when I’m trying to tick people off or be funny.)

So…

While my writing obviously has a distinct and tangible Boston-tone to it, I have in fact inhabited the Big Apple since September of 2001. I guess you could say my transformation from Bostonian to New Yorker took place pretty rapidly, as well as unexpectedly. One thing about me that will never change, however, is my loyalty for the Beantown teams. Because of this odd contrast of natures, I am by nature, quite dichotomous. New York has reinforced my allegiances, tested me and shaped me. I have friends here who are Boston fans. I even have friends who are Yankees fans. (And they even have friends who are me.)

Something about Boston and NYC alike is that no one is short on opinion. Everyday I’m confronted by opposing viewpoints, which in turn hone my basis of knowledge and understanding of outside perceptions. In other words while I maintain steadfast support for my teams, I’m consistently being fed enemy propaganda/knowledge, which maximizes my chances of approaching that archaic journalistic concept of objectivity. Like most journalists in this day and age, I may be inherently subjective, but I’m constantly being barraged by a variety of influences that serve to push me back towards the center. That’s my case for credibility.

As for who I am and what this site represents, well that’s another story. For as long as I can remember (and before) I have been obsessive compulsive when it comes to sports. Playing sports, watching sports, reading about sports, interpreting sports–you name it. Everyone who has ever known me knows this about me, knows how sports have helped me forge an identity. For some reason though it wasn’t until I came to Fordham University in New York that that identity was given a tag. The guys I became tightest with were, quite naturally, sports enthusiasts themselves. But their buddy from Boston seemed to always take things to another level.

It was my roommate and hoops teammate, Jim “Shoota” Magruder, who coined the pseudonym “Ballgame”. Glorious in its simplicity and unique in its implementation, the name gave my persona that missing-third dimension; legitimized it if you will. In hindsight it marked the first step in the first phase of my career as a veritable sportswriter. We lost Shoota in October of 2006, but not before he had a chance to see the first couple of posts I submitted for a startup blog. From the moment he was gone the blog morphed into something bigger and more important than I had ever done before. I posted weekly for more than nine months, the content of which is now categorized within this website. I dedicated the blog to the memory of Shoota, and I am now doing the same for this site. At this juncture that’s my story. The rest, as they say, remains to be written.

My Story

What’s good reader? I’m Ballgame and this is my site, also known as my “points”. Basically this is a venue for me to make my loud (and Boston-slanted) voice heard. Yes, Boston is in my blood and the Red Sox and Patriots are no doubt the heart that gives life to my sportswriting. But there’s a catch. I’m also a New Yorkaaaaaaaaah. (Although I only drop my “R’s” when I’m trying to tick people off or be funny.)Read More...